Ryan's House campaign boosts Mitt

Paul Ryan supporters in the final weeks before Election Day are knocking on doors, putting up yard signs, running ads and holding campaign events in Wisconsin.

It might seem like they belong to the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan campaign, but in fact, they aren’t affiliated with the presidential race at all. They’re part of Ryan’s congressional reelection bid.

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While the volunteers are walking precincts, Ryan’s House campaign is buying $2 million worth of TV ads in Milwaukee and Madison this fall, blanketing important areas in the state for potential swing voters in the presidential race.

The first Ryan for Congress ad, “America has a choice,” pushes for a limited, efficient government and other ideals supported by Romney’s campaign and does not specifically mention Ryan’s House race until the disclosure statement at the end.

Unlike Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman, recent vice presidential candidates who also simultaneously ran for reelection to another office, Ryan’s in a competitive state for the presidential race, meaning that what his House campaign does in Wisconsin matters on a larger scale. In other words, Ryan for Congress has the potential to serve as a legal, proxy campaign for Romney’s presidential bid in Wisconsin, which offers 10 electoral votes.

Evan Tracey, founder and former president of Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks media buys, said Ryan’s congressional ads are a way for the Romney campaign to tout what the vice presidential nominee stands for and also circumvent the cap on the number of political ads local stations typically have for each candidate.

“What the Ryan buys do is allow Romney-Ryan to get an extra spot,” Tracey said. “This is more about the presidential race than about the congressional race — $2 million is a lot of money for a House race in Wisconsin that isn’t competitive.

“What he’s doing is putting his money to work. … It’s pretty smart actually,” Tracey added. “It’s a case in which they are using the rulebook in their favor.”

Ryan had $5.4 million in the bank for his House campaign as of the end of June, but new figures won’t be released until Oct. 15, so it’s possible that the local race can be a legal outlet for maxed-out Romney donors who want to make sure their money will be spent in a swing state, albeit indirectly.

“I’m sure there is concern in the Obama camp about that,” said Lisa Gilbert, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. “It’s not quite a loophole, but he has the ability to attract donors to two races in a pivotal swing state. It’s just an unfortunate truth of the race from the president’s side.”

Kevin Seifert, Ryan’s campaign manager, said any influence the House race has on the bigger picture is unintentional.

“They’re very independent campaigns,” he said, adding that there has been very little communication between the two campaigns.

Brendan Buck, spokesman for the Romney campaign, agreed.

“The two campaigns operate independently and by the law,” Buck said in an email. “Our team is 100 percent focused on making sure Mitt Romney is elected president.”

Romney has made three trips to Wisconsin and attended 18 campaign events since announcing his candidacy. The Romney campaign also spent more than $127,000 on ads that aired in the week of Sept. 12 and Sept. 18 alone on local stations in Milwaukee, according to the Federal Communications Commission’s political ad database.